Kauffman Foundation makes $20 million pledge for UMKC downtown campus

Kauffman Foundation makes $20 million pledge for UMKC downtown campus

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On Wednesday the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation announced a $20 million grant towards a downtown arts campus project for the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The grant is contingent on the Conservatory raising an additional $70 million need for the project’s first phase within a period of three year.

The gift is the second-largest in UMKC history and according to a press release, one of the largest gifts to a public university conservatory in the last decade.

“We are proud to be a catalyst for progress to help drive the Conservatory to new heights with a new, cutting-edge facility and, at the same time, relieve overcrowding on the congested UMKC Volker Campus,” Julia Irene Kauffman, Chairman and CEO of the foundation, said.

The Mid-America Regional Council did an economic impact study and it estimates that the arts campus in conjunction with reuse of the Volker campus would create $30.8 million in real GDP and $22.9 million in real disposable income per year over a course of 25 years.

The concept has been based off of similar projects like the Juilliard/Lincoln Center in New York and the New England Conservatory/Jordan Hall in Boston.